Texas State Taekwondo Association

🔥 TEXAS TEAM FINISHES THE 2026 PRESIDENT’S CUP ON FIRE! 🔥

Day 3 was incredible for Team Texas! We are extremely proud of this team, their performances, and the effort they gave throughout the competition.

🥇 Minki Seong
U50 Male Individual — GOLD
O30 Pairs — GOLD

🥇 Elenielle Ong
Junior Female Individual — GOLD

🥈 Joseph Kim
Junior Male Individual — SILVER

🥈 Ronin Vongphakdy
U17 Freestyle Individual — SILVER

🥉 Apollo Tan
U30 Male Individual — BRONZE

A special thank you to Head Coach AJ Muñoz and our newest addition to the coaching staff, Coach Minki, for their leadership and support.

We also proudly recognize the athletes’ home coaches and teams:
Master Seong Tae Kim — Team Elite
Master Sang Jae Lee — Dowongyulei
Master AJ Muñoz - Team Forge

What an amazing way to close out the 2026 President’s Cup. Congratulations, Team Texas!
🤠🇺🇸

2026 TEXAS TEAM
PATU PRESIDENT’S CUP G3
Lima, Peru

Congratulations to our 15 Texas athletes who gave their all at this major international event. We are incredibly proud of the way they competed, represented Texas. These are memories that will last a lifetime for this amazing group.

MEDALISTS
🥇 Taylor Jo Gavin — GOLD
🥇 Ximena Garcia — GOLD
🥉 Steven Jenq — BRONZE
🥉 Jackson Allen — BRONZE

Thank you to our Texas Team staff:
Hanssel Llanos — Head Coach
Gianni Giambi — Coach
Adrian Gonzales — Head of Team

We would also like to recognize the athletes’ home teams and coaches for the work they put in every day:
Houston Center for Taekwondo — Coach Gianni Giambi 🥇🥉
Forney Taekwondo — Coach Aaron Crawford 🥉
Olympic Taekwondo Academy— Coach Eduardo Rodriguez 🥇

Media by: Daniela Macias

Day 1 in Lima, Peru 🇵🇪 with Texas Team.

Comment and show your love for these great Texas team athletes!
A special thank you to the Club de Regatas for hosting the Texas Team in Peru for our first night training.

Texas State Staff
*Adrian Gonzales, Head of Team
*AJ Muñoz, Poomsae Head Coach
*Hanssel Llanos, Kyorugi Head Coach
* Gianni Giambi, Kyorugi Coach

Poomsae
* Apollo Tan
* Ronin Vongphakdy
* Elenielle Ong
* Joseph Kim

Seniors
* Danica Deaton
* Alejandro Medina
* Fernando Lopez-Zacapala
* Gerald Mutz
* Logan Weber

Cadets & Juniors
* Steven Jenq
* Ariana Martinez
* Taylor Gavin
* Kiera Holmes
* Sean Rodriguez
* Nolan Reeder
* Hannah George
* Ximena Ortiz
* Jackson Allen
* Ximena Garcia
* Ian Diaz

🔥 LESS THAN 3 WEEKS AWAY! 🔥

The NRG Taekwondo Championships are coming to Fort Worth on September 5! Get ready for an energy-filled day featuring sparring, poomsae, para competition and board breaking.

This is an all levels event!

🥋 Red and black belts ages 10+ will compete using Daedo Gen 3
🔥 All World Class Poomsae divisions will use Poomsae Pro
🇹🇼 World Class black belts ages 15–17 will fight for a spot on the Texas Team traveling to the Taipei City Cup in Taiwan!

📍 CERA
3300 Bryant Irvin Rd
Fort Worth, TX 76109

Don’t wait—register now on MatchUpp.net!

Texas, let’s show up and bring the energy! ⚡️

🥇 GOLD IN KOREA! 🇺🇸🇰🇷

A huge congratulations to Apollo on an incredible international performance at the 2026 Kimunyong Cup in Korea!

Apollo captured GOLD 🥇 in U30 Individual Male Poomsae this past July, representing with skill, precision, and confidence on the international stage.

Winning gold in Korea is a tremendous accomplishment and a testament to the hours of training, discipline, and dedication behind the scenes.

🏆 2026 Kimunyong Cup Champion
🥇 U30 Individual Male Poomsae
📍 Korea | July 2026

Congratulations, Apollo! An incredible achievement and a moment to be proud of! 👏🔥🇺🇸

Texas is PROUD OF YOU!

Thank you, Houston!

What an incredible day of training, learning, and matches at the Texas State Training Camp & Rumble! A huge thank you to everyone who came out and made this event such a success.

A special thank you to Coach Gianni Giambi and Coach Hanssel Llanos for sharing their knowledge, passion, and experience with our athletes. Your commitment to developing competitors and raising the level of taekwondo in Texas made a lasting impact on everyone who attended.

We were also honored to welcome a talented group of athletes from Mexico, making this a truly international training experience and strengthening the friendships within our taekwondo community.

Thank you to all of the athletes, coaches, volunteers, and families who made this day possible. We can’t wait to see everyone at the next Texas State event!

🥋 Stronger together. See you at the next camp and rumble!

🥋 Texas State Taekwondo is proud to sanction the 2026 Austin International Open!

We are honored to support this outstanding event and would like to extend our sincere appreciation to Master Pedro Mercado for his continued commitment to growing the sport of taekwondo. Thank you for consistently hosting high-quality events and for your partnership with Texas State Taekwondo.

We encourage athletes, coaches, and clubs from across the region to come out and compete, learn, and be part of an incredible weekend featuring Olympic Sparring, Sport Poomsae, and the Sparring Club Seminar with Olympic medalist Óscar Salazar OLY.

📅 October 3–4, 2026
📍 Round Rock Sports Center – Austin, Texas

🚨 It’s NOT too late to register! 🚨

Join us for the Texas State Training Camp & Rumble this Saturday at Houston Center of Taekwondo!

Whether you’re preparing for upcoming competitions or looking to sharpen your skills, this is a training opportunity you don’t want to miss.

📍 Location:
Houston Center of Taekwondo
8572 Katy Fwy #104
Houston, TX 77024

📝 Register now: MatchUpp.net

DAEDO Gen 3

✅ Walk-in registration at the door is also accepted!

Bring your gear, bring your teammates, and get ready for an incredible day of training and high-level matches. See you in Houston!

Already registered athletes from these teams:
Chang Lees
Houston Center of Taekwondo
Infinity
Adrenaline
UMA - Chois
KIT
Capitanes (MEX)
OTA
OTT
KTA

Plus our 2026 Texas Team - President’s Cup athletes!

ICYMI ✍️
We officially announced last week the SAVE THE DATE for 2027 Texas State Taekwondo Championships.

🗓️The countdown is on for the biggest Texas State Championship ever. We hope to reach record numbers for 2027. We encourage all Masters, Coaches, Athletes and Supporters to join in on the journey of making Texas Taekwondo a nationwide powerhouse. We are excited USATKD Nationals is back in Fort Worth, Texas in 2027!

TEXAS ATHLETES… IT’S TIME TO LEVEL UP! 🥋🔥

Join us Saturday, August 1 in Houston for the Texas Training Camp & Rumble—an opportunity to sharpen your skills, learn from some of the best coaches in the sport, and prepare for the upcoming competition season.

💥 Schedule
🔒 8:00–10:00 AM – Closed Session
Texas Team athletes traveling to Peru & special invites

👊 10:30 AM–12:30 PM – Open Training
Open to ALL athletes!
Train with Texas Head Coach Hanssel Llanos and Coach Gianni Giambi, coach of multiple World Medalists.

🥊 1:30 PM – Texas Rumble
Live matches for athletes of all ages and experience levels. Put your training to the test in a competitive but supportive environment.

📍 Houston, Texas
📅 Saturday, August 1

Tag your teammates, invite your coaches, and let’s continue building the strongest Taekwondo community in Texas.

MatchUpp.net - Register now!